„Nero (...) cared about the common people. He had to provide them with entertainment and therefore he organized the greatest festival of the ancient times. In his beautiful prose, Tacitus tells us that Caesar offered his private gardens for the feast. Everybody who was someboy appeared at the feast: senators, aristocracy, chroniclers sharing high-society gossip – all the haut monde. But Nero had a problem: he did not know how to illuminate such vast a space and extensive gardens. He came up with an idea to bring some criminals and burn them to brighten the mise en scène. (...) For me, the focal point of all this is not Nero but his guests. Who were the people invited by Nero?”.
(„Hunger” by Martín Caparrós, translated by Marta Szafrańska-Brandt).
More than two thousand years ago Judeo-Christian morality dwelt in catacombs – it was a different world then: no taboos or sense of guilt, yet upholding its hierarchies, beliefs and rituals. As an absolute ruler and an absolute artist, Nero exercised total control over the ambience nature and dynamics of his feasts. He had no moderation – his performances continued even for twelve hours, and his appetite was insatiable. He was keen to make the pleasures last as long as possible, and for this purpose the feasting guests had always access e.g. to vomitoria as well as to other forms of relaxation and purification.
Inspired by modern governance techniques, creators of the spectacle seek to re-enact one of Nero’s legendary feasts. By referring to events and people of greatest importance to him, Nero will try to remove the boundary between art and life, actors and spectators, the show and the meeting.
For adults only.